1. Field of the Invention
Aspects of the present invention relate to mesoporous carbon, a method of preparing the same and a fuel cell using the carbon, and more particularly, to a method of preparing mesoporous carbon in which a carbonization process is performed using microwave energy in a mesoporous silica template. With this method, the carbonization time is significantly reduced. Aspects of the present invention further relate to mesoporous carbon obtained according to the method, and a fuel cell using the mesoporous carbon as a catalyst support.
2. Description of the Related Art
A catalyst contained in fuel cell electrodes plays an important role by facilitating electrochemical reactions. Therefore, it is beneficial to increase the activity of catalysts used in electrodes. Since the activity of a catalyst increases as the reaction surface area of the catalyst increases, catalyst particles should be reduced in the diameter to increase the reaction surface area and should be uniformly distributed in an electrode. A catalyst support should also have a high surface area, and much research has been carried out on ways to increase the surface area of catalyst supports. Further, in addition to a high surface area, which may be obtained through high porosity, a support for a fuel cell catalyst must also have sufficient electrical conductivity so that the support can act as a path for the flow of electrons. A conventional example of such a support is an amorphous microporous carbon powder, such as activated carbon or carbon black.
However, it is known that micropores of these types of amorphous microporous carbon particles are poorly connected. Therefore, in a conventional direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC), a supported catalyst that is prepared using an amorphous microporous carbon powder support exhibits much lower reactivity than does a metal particle used by itself as a catalyst.
However, when a metal particle is used by itself as a catalyst, the amount of the catalyst required is greater, and thus, the manufacturing costs of a DMFC increase. Accordingly, the development of a supported catalyst that can improve catalyst activity is urgently required.